32 - The Barking Ghost by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) Page A

was also going to be hard getting used to all the other strange noises
this old house made. The rattling pipes. The scraping shutters. And some weird
noise that thumped really loudly every hour.
    At dinner, Mom said that the thumping noise was only the house “settling”.
    Whatever that means.
    At least she didn’t say, “It’s just the wind, Cooper.”
    I jumped into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. Then I fluffed my
pillows two or three times, trying hard to get comfortable. I felt a little
safer in bed.
    I love my bed. Mom wanted to trash it when we moved. She said I needed a new
one. But I said no way. It had taken me years to break this bed in. The mattress
had just the right amount of lumps, and they were in all the right spots.
    In the dark, I glanced around my new room. It was so weird seeing all my
things in this strange place. When the movers carried my stuff in here this
morning, I had them put the furniture exactly the way it was in my old room.
    Across from my bed, my dad built a really cool bookcase for all my snow
domes. It has a light in it and everything.
    I can’t wait to unpack my snow domes. I have seventy-seven of them from all
over the world—even Australia and Hong Kong. I guess you could call me a snow
dome collector.
    Anyway, I was finally beginning to relax, thinking about my snow domes—when
I heard another noise.
    Not a bunch of little crunches like before—but one long, drawn-out crunch.
    I shot straight up in bed. This time I was sure. One hundred percent sure.
Someone—or something—was creeping around out there. Right outside my window!
    I threw off the covers. Then I dropped to the floor on my hands and knees.
Moving slowly, I crawled to the window. Then I carefully pulled myself up and
peered outside.
    What was it?
    A snake?
    I flung open the window. I grabbed a softball from the floor and tossed it at
the snake. Then I fell back down to my knees and listened.
    Silence. No crunching. No slithering.
    A direct hit. Great!
    I stood and leaned carefully out the window. I was feeling pretty proud of
myself. After all, I had just saved my family from a deadly—
    —garden hose!
    I let out a disappointed sigh and shook my head. Get a grip, Cooper.
    If Gary and Todd were here, they would never let me hear the end of this.
They’d be laughing their heads off.
    “Nice going, Coop!” Gary would say. “Saved your family from a poisonous
garden hose!”
    “Yeah. Super Cooper strikes again!” Todd would say. Back in bed again, I fluffed up my pillows one more time. Then I
closed my eyes as tightly as I could.
    That’s it, I said to myself. I am not getting up again. I don’t care
what I hear next.
    I will not get up from this bed again. No matter what.
    And then I heard another noise. A different kind of noise. A sound that made
my heart pound right through my chest.
    Breathing.
    Deep, heavy breathing.
    In my room.
    Under my bed!

 
 
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    I didn’t move.
    I couldn’t move.
    I stared at the ceiling. Listening. Listening to the raspy breathing under my
bed.
    Okay, Cooper, I told myself. Calm down. It’s probably your imagination.
Playing tricks on you again.
    The breathing grew louder. Raspier.
    I covered my ears and shut my eyes tight.
    It’s nothing. It’s nothing. It’s nothing.
    It’s an old house, I thought, still covering my ears. Old houses have to
breathe—don’t they?
    Or, what was it that Mom said? Settling? Yeah, that’s what it must be. The
house settling.
    Or maybe it’s the pipes. We had pipes in our apartment in Boston, and they
made crazy noises all the time. I’ll bet that’s what it is—the pipes.
    I lowered my hands.
    Silence now. No settling. No pipes. No breathing.
    I must be losing my mind.
    If I told Gary and Todd about this one, they’d really laugh their heads off.
    And then the breathing started again. Raspy and wet. Hoarse breathing. Like a
sick animal.
    I couldn’t just lie there. I had to see what it was.
    I